I sat on a familiar hill, alone. It was spring, and the flowers in the grass were blooming as the birds sang their happy songs. The tree I was under provided a perfect amount of shade, keeping me cool in the hot weather. I sat against the trunk, comfortable and satisfied.
I probably would have fallen asleep if it weren’t for the yellow filly walking up the hill. She pulled off her saddlebags and sat down next to me, resting her head on my shoulder. I smiled. Everything was perfect, right at this very moment. Me and Starshine were looking over the city on a warm, inviting day, and there were no troubles to be had.
“Starshine, do you think we’ll be doing this forever?” I looked down at the filly, grinning and waiting for my answer.
She paused, and the smile left her face. She got up and sighed, now looking down at me. “Sketch, that’s sort of what I wanted to talk about…”
My expression switched to concern. “Wait, you’re not saying-“
“Let me finish.” I paused and nodded. “..Sketch, sorry to snap you out of being happy and everything, but… This is a dream. None of this is real.”
I stood up. “It’s not?”
“No, it isn’t. But sitting here with me isn’t the point of this dream. There’s something important I need to tell you.” I could only nod, encouraging her to go on. “Look, Sketch.. You’re a great colt, you really are. The day I just spent with you was one of the best of my life, just because I got to love you again. But that can’t keep happening.”
I paused in surprise. “Why not?”
She sighed. “Let me show you something.” She opened one of her saddlebags and pulled out a tape recorder. She set it down and said, “Remember how I said this was a dream?”
“Yeah.”
She showed me the inside of her bag, which was filled with various cassette tapes. “Well, these are your memories.” She reached inside the cloth sack, looking for a particular tape. When she found it, she pulled it out, put it inside the tape recorder, and pressed “play.”
I looked down and frowned. On the tape was marked “Scootaloo.”
Suddenly I heard the tape playing. It sounded like Scootaloo’s voice. “Oh, yeah, um.. I’m Scootaloo, and this is Applebloom.” I sighed. My first time meeting her. “I guess you’re right. I mean, a cutie mark could be anything, you just have to go out there and find it.” After her voice, I heard my own speak. “Kinda like true love.” “Yeah, kinda.” That night at the sleepover..!
The small machine kept emitting my memories of the small orange filly.
“Sketch, what we’re trying to say is this – We want you to be a Cutie Mark Crusader.”
“Well, yeah. I mean, like that time at the sleepover, and the carrying you here.. I just think I, well, kinda.. Like you.”
“There’s just this.. thing about you that I can’t explain. You’re one of the best ponies I’ve ever met. You’re always nice, and you can be kinda quiet but really outgoing at times, and.. I like being around you.. Is that ok?”
I smiled at the last one. I knew that was when we first kissed, right in the middle of the hospital.
Wait a minute.
I remember something.
Starshine must have seen the look on my face. “Yes, this is where all your memories went.. You were so focused on me, you left them here. And I think it’s high time I returned them to you.” She packed up the tape recorder in the saddlebag and held it out for me to take.
“Wait a minute,” I said with a sad expression, “If you give me these memories, won’t I have to forget you?”
She sighed. “Eventually, Sketch, yes. But it’s for the better. If you can remember everything else you know, it’s more important than me.”
“That’s not true!” I said, tears beginning to form in my eyes. “Couldn’t I just stay here with you and not go back?”
She frowned. “..Sketch, you know I can’t do that to you. You’ll have to move back to Ponyville eventually, and I can’t send you back without these memories. However, I can send you back with something else, though.”
She reached into her second saddlebag and pulled out an envelope. She handed it to me, and I inspected it closer. The only thing written on it was “Sketch” in ink with a fancy cursive print. It had a letter inside it from the feel of it.
“Alright, Sketch. That’s all I can do. Now you have to wake up and go back to Ponyville.”
My tears became more intense. “But Starshine, I don’t want to go. Everything here is perfect- you’re perfect. Please, just..” My sentence tapered off, and I started crying. I sat down and buried my face in my hooves, sobbing. It was the hardest I had ever cried, sitting there, wallowing in my sadness. I’ll never forget it. But I’ll also never forget what came after.
Starshine sat down with me and ran her hooves through my hair, comforting me. “Don’t worry, it’ll be alright. It’ll all be okay,” she whispered as she held me, as if she were protecting me.
I looked up into her eyes. They were a dazzling green, just as they’d always been. But now they seemed inviting. They seemed content. They seemed as though this filly knew everything was going to be okay.
“Please, Starshine. I don’t want to lose you again,” I choked out over my tears.
Starshine said nothing, but instead took action.
She leaned in and kissed me.
But it wasn’t a normal kiss.
It was the most magical kiss in all of history.
As I was kissing her, the figure of Starshine turned to dust which floated away in the wind.
I managed to smile over my crying. “Thank you, Starshine. I know what I have to do.” With that, I grabbed the saddlebag full of memories and slung it over my back. In my hoof was the letter from Starshine.
I jumped off the hill, plummeting to the valley below.
***
I heard my name being called several times, from what sounded like three different voices.
“Sketch!”
“Skeeeetch!”
“Come on Sketch, wake up, please!”
I opened my eyes and saw three fillies. One orange, one white, one yellow.
No- I saw the Cutie Mark Crusaders, and I was one of them.
“Sketch! Thank Celestia you’re okay!” Scootaloo yelled, grabbing me into a hug. I surveyed my surroundings- I was sitting against my hotel room wall, still dazed from the punch Sweetie gave me. I rubbed my head, suddenly remembering my pain.
“Wow, Sweets, you got him good. Look at his face!” Applebloom exclaimed. I slowly got up and stumbled over to a mirror. My face was covered in blood that seemingly came from my nose; Sweetie must have punched me right in the muzzle.
“Yeah.. Sorry about that, Sketch.. My temper just got carried away, and I..” Sweetie’s sentence tapered off.
“It’s okay,” I said reassuringly, “It’s not your fault. It’s mine.”
“No,” she said back, “It’s my fault. You don’t even remember what you did, and-“
“You mean the whole ‘kissing you behind my house’ thing was a dream?” I said with a smirk. Sweetie’s mouth dropped open. The Crusaders stared in her direction, expecting some sort of answer.
Sweetie Belle said nothing, but instead galloped to me and embraced me in a large hug. The other two fillies just stared.
“Girls.. I remember now.”
“What?!” Applebloom and Scootaloo yelled in unison.
“I know it sounds crazy, but.. My memory is back,” I said, smiling and embracing Sweetie.
The fillies smiled as well and did the same as Sweetie. Soon we were all in a huge hug, smiling and laughing. Suddenly, I heard a familiar voice at my door.
“Sketch? What’s all the ruckus in there?”
I ran to my door and flung it open. Behind it was my mother, who I hugged without hesitation. “My memory is back, mom. We can go back home,” I said, tears of joy on my face. I stood there, hugging my mother for a few minutes, not wanting to let her go. This is what she had been hoping for, and I knew it made both of us truly happy.
I broke the hug and ran to tell my father. Everyone was happy, and everything was the way it should be.
We were going home.
***
We left for the train early the next morning. Eventually, my parents had to find out about the CMC’s presence in my hotel room, so they were a bit mad. But after I explained that without them I wouldn’t have my memory, they let it go. They made me reimburse them for their train tickets, but it was worth it.
I deposited my bags in the baggage car and ran up to the passenger side of the train with the Crusaders. We hopped into a compartment and sat down, ready for the journey ahead. We were all truly happy at that moment. We were among friends, and everything was alright again. I sat next to Scootaloo and Applebloom and Sweetie Belle sat across from us. Now it was time for the trip home.
***
Scootaloo laid her head on my shoulder. “I’m so glad to have you back, Sketch,” she said softly.
I put my hoof around her. “I’m glad to be back. I have no idea how I could live without you guys,” I replied with a smile.
“Hold on a second,” Sweetie Belle said, “What about that Starshine girl you had to speak to? What happened to her?”
“I said my goodbyes and we parted ways. It was great seeing her again, but it turns out the only thing that could fix my memory was a punch,” I laughed.
The other girls laughed too. Now it was all just a funny memory, dust in the wind which passed on. And we were glad to be back.
***
I opened up my sketchbook, thinking about something to draw. I flipped through the pages as I always did, looking at what I had drawn in the past. I smiled, remembering each and every picture I had done. I flipped ahead to the newest page, where I didn’t find a picture, or even a blank page-
I found a letter.
Dear Sketch,
There’s something I want you to know. The time I spent with you was spectacular, and I’ll never forget it, but that doesn’t mean you can’t have a better time. So get out there and make your life the best it can be. You have more talent, more care, and more love than anypony I know, and I want you to use it. And if you’re worried about me, don’t be- I’ll be with you always, in this letter, and in your heart.
Love,
Starshine
P.S- The first snow will never be the same without you. Love you, Sketchy.
I read the letter over a few times, and eventually tears came to my eyes. They weren’t tears of sadness though, they were tears of joy. I was with who I loved, and I knew I wouldn’t forget who I loved.
“Hey, Sketchy?”
I raised my head to the orange filly. “Yes, Scootaloo?
“Can you draw a picture of me, just like you always used to?”
“Sure thing,” I said, smiling.
I reached for my pencil.
THE END